I'm taking a break from this story after this chapter. I need to work on my other fanfiction since I haven't touched it for months. The contest is closed, so we'll see who wins when this story finishes. Please enjoy the chapter.

122

Harry was standing among his friends and guildmate surrounding Lucy. They were in the castle ballroom with many guests to celebrate the ending of the Grand Magic Games and their win over the dragons.

Lucy was holding a red key with a dragon head designing the handle. She held it out for everyone to see.

"Wow, Lucy," said Natsu with sparkles in his eyes. "You got a new key. When and how did this happen?"

Lucy chuckled nervously before answering, "I got it while trying to close the Eclipse Gate."

~Flashback: Lucy's POV~

I was trying to close the doors of the Eclipse Gate with Yukino's help, but the two up us weren't enough to budge them. I was using all my strength, causing my teeth to grind together or yelling for all to hear, but still, the doors wouldn't move. I heard Yukino straining to push the gate close, but she wasn't faring much better.

The two of us were knocked onto our behinds when the earth trembled. I looked up to see what caused the ground to shake, only for fear to grip my heart. It was the dragon Wendy summoned in the underground cave, but he was alive and looked hungry. He introduced himself but didn't say he was the Jade Dragon like he did when we met him. Maybe he didn't get that title yet?

I shook my head to clear it. 'This is not the time to think about unimportant things, Lucy!' I mentally scolded myself.

I reached down to my belt and grabbed a red key. "Open, Gate of the Sky Rabbit, Lupus!" Lupus appeared and saw her opponent. She smirked and dashed forward without me having to tell her to. She used her powerful legs to hop over the green dragon's head and brought her heel down to meet the top of the dragon's skull.

The Jade Dragon roared in surprise, which made me nervous. 'It didn't affect him?' I questioned in shock.

The dragon glared at Lupus and lifted his right front foot. Lupus used the dragon's foot to back away from him but crashed into a nearby building. The wall cracked when she landed but broke as she kicked off. She butted her head with the dragon, but it still had no effect. I was becoming nervous. I didn't want Lupus to get hurt, but if this kept going, she would be.

I decided to use the time Lupus gave me. Even if the rabbit wasn't causing any damage to the dragon, she was distracting him.

"Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Winter Creation: Dragon Sculpture!"

A dragon made of ice and snow formed between the Jade Dragon and I. It was roughly the same size as the opposing dragon, a few inches taller. The Jade Dragon's eyes widened when a new dragon appeared out of nowhere, which I used to my advantage. I had my ice dragon attack the green one, causing it to roar in pain. While my dragon was fighting, I returned my attention to the gate.

I pushed the doors, but I still wasn't getting anywhere. I call to Lupus to help. She was reluctant but came to my aid anyway. Lupus landed next to me and helped me push the door. Finally, I took a step as the door moved an inch.

I paused and gasped when I felt and heard my ice dragon being destroyed. I turned my brown eyes to see what happened, only to notice the Jade Dragon's mouth smoking from his breath attack. Where my dragon sculpture was, was a pile of ice chunks.

My eyes widen at this revelation. Was I really this weak? My dragon's strength matched my own, but for it to be defeated quickly proved that I must train with my dragon slayer magic more. 'If I can survive today,' I thought with sweat rolling down my cheek.

The chunks of ice shattered as the spell ended, forming into sparkly particles. The particles looked like stars falling from the sky, but behind them, I saw the Jade Dragon lifting its claws, readying to strike. My heart sped up as I watched, but before I could think of doing anything, time slowed to a stop.

The star-like snow began to reform, but instead of turning into a dragon made of ice, it was a blue dragon with golden markings around its neck, wings, and limbs. The underside of the wings looked like a clear night sky with stars shining beautifully, and the eyes were midnight black with a four-pointed star-shaped pupil.

The dragon looked down at me, meeting my eyes. Its eyes held so much wisdom, giving me a sense I was drowning in an ocean. I tried to look away, but I couldn't. It was like I was a moth drawn to a flame.

"I am Draco, Dragon of the Stars." I was shocked out of my trance when I heard the deep, rumbling voice of the dragon. There was a musical tune to the sound, bringing me peace. "I have been watching you since Lupus has chosen you to be her master. I have got to say, I am not disappointed. I admire your courage, Lucy Heartfilia. Against all odds, you stood your ground and tried to protect those you hold dear. That is why I have come before you. I wish to help you fight these cocky children that call themselves dragons."

I felt stunned and flattered at the same time. I was flattered that this powerful and beautiful creature had chosen me to be his summoner and stunned that he saw these destructive dragons as unruly children.

Draco lifted his head slightly as a glowing red key floated down from nowhere. The key stopped in front of me. "Take this key; it will help you summon me when needed." I grabbed the key and looked at it. It had a dragon head-shaped handle with the symbol for the word dragon on the forehead.

I looked up at Draco, but he vanished, and time started moving again. The Jade Dragon was bringing his claws down fast enough to blur. I held the red dragon key in the air. "Open, Gate of the Star Dragon: Draco!"

~End of Flashback~

"After I summoned Draco, he began fighting Zirconis the Jade Dragon," Lucy said, making a face. "He made it look easy, the jerk. He was even smug about it too."

Everyone chuckled at Lucy's misfortune, or was it fortune? After all, she did gain a powerful ally in Draco. If he was strong enough to beat up another dragon, then good for Lucy.

"Draco sounds awesome! Hey, think you can summon him so I can fight him?" asked Natsu with a goofy grin.

Lucy karate-chopped Natsu on the head while shouting, "Not right now! We're in the middle of the castle! Don't you think we've done enough damage for one day?!" Her words made Harry cringe, but only Fawkes noticed.

{You didn't forget about your promise to Makarov, did you?} he asked with amusement.

{Shut up, Fawkes. Master and the king said I can begin fixing the city tomorrow because tonight wore me out.}

Fawkes laughed, {I wish you luck then. While you're working, I'm going to sleep all day.}

Harry ground his teeth, causing a vein to pop under the skin on his forehead. {SHUT UP!}

Fawkes whistled cheerfully, causing Harry to become angry at both him and his own jealousy.

"I'm glad you agreed to this treaty, Emperor Spriggan, but may I ask what made you come here to ask for one? I thought you wished to destroy my kingdom?" asked the King of Fiore as he stacked the documents together.

"I never wanted to destroy your country," said Spriggan dismissively. "There was a power here that I wanted to require that could help me take down Acnologia." His words caused the king, princess, and knight to gasp in shock.

"Acnologia?" asked Arcadios. "You have a plan that could defeat him?"

"I have numerous plans that may take him down. The question is, which one will succeed?"

"How?" asked Hisui. "I mean, Zeref created that monster, didn't he? If Zeref -" Spriggan cut her off.

"Zeref didn't create Acnologia," the emperor said as calmly as he could, but he felt venom leave his mouth as he spoke. The others in the room heard it, too, if their wide-eyed look was anything to go by.

"Did Zeref write this down in his journal?" asked the king.

Spriggan sighed. "There is mention of how and why Acnologia came to be, but Zeref had nothing to do with it. However, that is not where I'm drawing my knowledge from." He paused, seeing he had his three audience's attention. "Allow me to explain in full and judge me after. 400 years ago, Zeref's family was killed by a dragon." Spriggan explained Zeref's life from when his family was killed to today. His words shocked the three listeners as they realized who it was that stood before them. Zeref held nothing back. He even told them of his involvement with Harry Potter and Death. "I'm sure you guessed by now that I am Zeref. So, allow me to introduce myself truthfully." Zeref stood from his chair and bowed to the three. "My name is Zeref Dragneel, Emperor Spriggan of the Alvarez Empire. I have lived for 400 years trying to find a way to end my immortality and Acnologia."

The silence in the small room was deafening, making Zeref look up in concern for the royal family and knight. It was finally broken by the king. "How do I know what you say is true? Even if you are Zeref, the history books all point to how you created Acnologia and the demons to cause destruction, not to find a way to kill yourself."

"I'm not surprised, but if you read those books carefully, you would have seen that I sealed my demons away, and someone else released them. Also, 400 years is a long time. Translation can get mixed up. But to help you believe my words, I'll use a spell to allow you to see my memories. Is that okay with you?"

"What would happen while viewing the memories?"

"You will fall into a trance. Since you don't trust me, I suggest you leave your knight out here with me."

The king nodded his agreement. "How long will this take?" he asked. "Also, I'll be viewing these memories alone."

"Father!" Hisui protested, but the king silenced her.

"I know this may be a trap, which is why I'm doing this." He turned back to Zeref, waiting for his answer.

"It should take only a few minutes. The mind works faster than the experience of time, after all."

"Alright, let's see these memories." Zeref smiled and placed his palm gently on the king's head. He cast the memory-viewing spell and watched as the king's eyes lost focus. Zeref sat down and waited for the king to return while Arcadios and Hisui glared at him suspiciously.

Ten minutes passed when the king returned to the present, causing the knight and princess both to breathe sighs of relief. The king gazed at Zeref with kind eyes.

"You have been through a hard life, Zeref. You are right about history becoming twisted as time passes. I saw in your memories how it became so wrong. Dark mages wanted power for themselves and heard about your work. So they collected and freed them while announcing how much of a genius you were for creating such monsters. Also, I saw how Acnologia became a dragon. I would ask if I would have to worry about Natsu and the other dragon slayers turning into dragons, but I saw how you stopped that from happening.

"I am willing to clear your name," this caused gasps from Hisui and Arcadios and Zere'f eyes to widen in shock, "but only if you do something for me. Don't worry. It is beneficial for you too."

Zeref raised an eyebrow. "What is it?" he asked.

"Capture all those who've killed in your name. There are many, and more just keep popping up. I want you to show them how unpleased you are with them and arrest them. But since they are within my kingdom, it will be my law they are under. Is that understood, Zeref?"

Zeref nodded slowly, still surprised that the king was willing to help clear his name. "If it will help clear my name, then I'm happy to do it, your highness," he said.

"Good. You may ask for help from Fairy Tail if needed, but be sure to not go overboard. I'm only allowing Fairy Tail because Harry is a friend of yours and Natsu's your brother, but Harry won't be able to help you tomorrow since he's agreed to help fix all the damage the city suffered from the dragon attack."

"I can help fix the damage too if you want, sir. It was my gate that caused all this."

"You can if you want, but don't blame yourself for this one. My daughter holds that responsibility for rebuilding the gate."

"I'm sorry," she said with her head bowed. "I'll oversee the construction, father."

"Fine, but make improvements to all buildings. I think it's past time for a renovation."

"Yes, father!"

"I'll still help with construction," said Zeref. "Since my name isn't cleared yet, I'll use transformation magic to hide my identity."

"You do that. Now, if that is all, you're all dismissed." Zeref, Hisui, and Arcadios left the room with bows, leaving the king to carry the Piece Treaty to his desk. He looked down at the documents before putting them away and was surprised to see that Zeref had written his real name on them. "He planned on telling the truth from the beginning," he said with a chuckle and neatly set the treaty in its rightful place.

TBC

Now the king knows about Zeref, Lucy got a new key, and Harry has a huge mess to clean up next chapter! XD

Harry: Why me?! =(

Zeref: Because you're nice.

Natsu: Have fun cleaning up the city! XD

Enj/Dark: I hope you know you're helping.

Natsu: What?! D=

Voldy: Sucks to be you. I was long gone by then.

Enj/Dark: That you were. Natsu, it's your turn.

Natsu: Please review! ;)